Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
JOKKMOKK WINTER MARKET
Jokkmokk Winter Market
CULTURAL
Winter travellers shouldn't miss the annual Sami Winter Market, held the first Thursday
through Saturday in February. The oldest and biggest of its kind, it attracts some 30,000
people annually; it's the biggest sales opportunity of the year for the Sami traders to
make contacts and see old friends, while visitors can splurge on the widest array of Sami
duodji(handicrafts) in the country and watch the merry chaos of reindeer races on the
frozen Talvatissjön lake behind Hotel Jokkmokk.
The event has been going strong since 1605, when King Karl XI decreed that markets
should be set up in Lappland to increase taxes, spread Christianity and exert greater con-
trol over the nomadic Sami. The Winter Market is preceded by the opening of the smaller
Historical Market and several days of folk music, plays, parades, local cinematography,
photography exhibitions, food-tasting sessions and talks on different aspects of Sami life
- all of which segues into the Winter Market itself. It's the most exciting (and coldest!)
time to be in Jokkmokk, with temperatures as low as -40°C, so wrap up warm!
Jokkmokk
0971 / Pop 5170
The capital of Sami culture, and the biggest handicraft centre in Lappland, Jokkmokk
(meaning 'river bend' in Sami) not only has the definitive Sami museum but also is the site
of a huge annual winter market gathering. Just north of the Arctic Circle, it's a tranquil
place and the only town in Sweden that has a further-education college that teaches
reindeer husbandry, craft making and ecology using the Sami language. Jokkmokk is the
jumping-off point for visiting the four national parks that are part of the
Laponia World
tures year round.
Sights & Activities
